I really could use a second opinion or two on this build. Its just for gaming. It probably won't be built for a week or 2 and I could make any changes by phone. I haven't built a gaming computer in about 8 years so I decided to let someone else put it together and check with you guys to see if I left anything out.
Thanks for your help
Richard

Welcome to the forum Rwnielsen ! Congrats on the Verified Customer badge...

OK...I like your CPU, PSU, and cooler choices for this Velox build.
Good gaming selections.

Here are a few suggestions for changes/ improvements, if you decide to adjust the build a bit. DS is pretty easy to work with as long as you talk to them soonest.

1) You used an entry level ATX mobo that will work fine. The midrange ASUS Z390 ROG Strix H ATX board or the MSI Z390 Pro Carbon ATX board would be stronger full featured motherboards for very little extra cost. Use the ASUS Strix, or if you need on board WiFi then use the Pro Carbon.

2) DS branded parts only carry a 1 yr system parts warranty. Switch the RAM to Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB RAM for a lifetime warranty plus the RGB LEDs you get for little extra cost.

3). One of the latest greatest features of current gen moboâ€™s that you have not utilized in your build is M.2 NVME SSD drives...the boards have 2 slots to place these fast & tiny SSD drives right on the mobo. M.2 NVME SSD are 5X faster than normal SATA III SSD drives as it uses the faster PCIE bus that video cards use. Most folks use an M.2 NVME SSD for drive 1 at least. The Samsung Evo 970 Pro or even faster 970 Plus M.2 NVME SSD come in 500 gb, 1 TB & 2 TB sizes.

4) The DS stock case fans are low cost plain black unlighted fans that have only the DS 1 yr part warranty. I recommend either the Corsair LL Series or ML Series case fan upgrade for longer warranties, and better quieter performance. The LL Series have two amazing RGB LED light loops for 16 LED and endless color designs, and carry a 2 yr warranty. The ML Series have only 4 hub RGB LED, but they use magnetic levitation bearings and carry a 5 yr warranty. Both upgrades would also include one CorsairLighting Node Pro module to synchronize and link all Corsair RGB components and uses Corsair iCUE software to design and control the RGB lighting. That also works with any Corsair RGB equipped peripherals you hook up like keyboard or mouse.

5) If this is mostly a gaming rig, itâ€™s not too hard to beat the AMD 5700 XT video card. The NVidia RTX 2070 Super would be a stronger midrange GPU that can perform very well with high game settings at 1080P or 2K/1440P displays. The RTX 2080 Super is even stronger yet for Ultra settings. NVidia Ray Tracing lighting effects, G-Synch tech for eliminating Screen Tearing when using G-Synch equipped monitors are just a couple of the reasons NVidia rules the GPU roost.

Case fans rarely fail, so upgrading those is more of an appearance choice IMO.

The AMD 5700 XT is only slightly off the performance of the 2070 S, which is quite a bit pricier. If you don't mind not having ray tracing lighting effects for the few games that offer those, the AMD choice will serve well.

Those are budget considerations that are up to you. The first 3 suggestions are solid performance enhancements you should reach out for.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to post. I think I'll go with the the motherboard, memory and SSD upgrades. On board SSD drives are new to me and while I could add them later I'd prefer to have my operating system on one when its delivered. I could also add memory in the future but... This build is costing, all in, about the same as my first computer which was a 200MMX and win95 so I cant really gripe too much.
Again, thanks for your help

I had a change of heart and switched this to a Lumos build. Added the Corsair 280 cooler and ML case fans. They're expecting the Velox cases mid-Feb and I didn't want to wait for them. Should be a nice rig when I finally get it :-)

This morning I checked and my new computer is in packaging. Maybe I'll get a tracking number soon. I have a new 32" monitor, a new mouse and keyboard and I'm thinking about a better chair. I'll be 66 in March and I'm acting like a 10 year old. It's all good.

From what I've read, the ROG STRIX motherboard has a decent sound processor on board. I have a couple of creative pci cards i was thinking of using, one being a sbo 460 with 'xfi', but it doesn't seem like I'll need to. I have a 5.1 speaker set up that I really like and from what I can see I should be able to enable the on board sound and just go with that. I'm sure you guys are familiar with this scenario, what do you think?

The consensus among reviewers and consumers alike for many years has been that dedicated sound cards are the choice of audiophiles with special purposes. The onboard audio has been more than just adequate going back at least a decade AFIK. However, that doesn't mean improvement isn't possible. It just means most of us rubes out here in averageville probably couldn't tell.

It's here, plugged in and running. It's beautiful! It's also virtually silent. I revived my Steam account and am loading a couple games. I still have to configure the sound and check out the LED lighting as it's only on Corsair lights right now... I took today off so it may be a late one 8-)

So far I'm impressed. The Chassis LED's plug came loose during transit and they're working fine now. My speaker setup needs attention as it has an awful buzz so I'm using headphones for the time being. This thing, so far, rocks on FPS games like Battlefield and Call of Duty. I've started wearing exam gloves when I tinker with it so I don't obsess over well illuminated fingerprints.

I've built quite a few computers over the years but I always seemed to pass over 'Final Assembly' & 'Quality Assurance'. I'll write up a nice review in a couple days.

Once again I'd like to thank all of you guys who took the time to help me get this right.

Hi all
I've had this computer for a couple of months now and it has been both flawless and impressive. It runs a consistent 4.67 mHz and plays all the games I can throw at it. I followed all the tips and recommendations of the guys here with one exception, the video card. I went with the AMD 5700 xt. It has proven to be the weak link. I'm currently on the 4th driver update (in 2 months) and it keeps getting better,thankfully. You can't play driving of fps games with intermittent black screens. Hopefully AMD will get this sorted out soon. Its also power hungry, 160w under heavy usage although I've never seen above 67 degrees C.
Again, thanks for all the help
Richard

Thanks for the feedback on the 5700 xt. It's supposed to fall in between a 2060S and a 2070S at a bargain price, but it was/is known to have some of the issues you describe on demanding games. I've heard of undervolting the card and revving the fan a bit to help with dropped frames. Perhaps you might look into that. How does moderating your game settings help? Sorry it's not doing better for you.

How did the onboard sound work for you? It would be good to affirm it's as good as we think it is!

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